SUMMARY:
There's no foul called for it, but puffing bad breath into another NBA player's face is usually considered to be in poor taste...er, smell.

Posted: April 19, 2012

In professional sports, as in the rest of life, halitosis happens. It's not such a big deal, is it? Well, it turns out that many pro athletes frown on oral odor, since in certain sports - especially ones that involve lots of contact with members of the other team - having bad breath can be distracting or even seemingly disrespectful.

Consider what recently happened between Vince Carter and Rudy Gay, two talented basketball players known for their skills on the court. While the incident wasn't full-blown (pun intended), it did get commentators talking about the perils of halitosis.

SB Nation Dallas reported that it happened this way: During a game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies, Carter walked up to guard Gay and exhaled in his face.

Gay's reaction, which can be seen in .gif format, is pretty priceless. He wrinkles up his nose, grabs his shirt as if to cover his face and says something in complaint, like "Ugh" or "Aww." The news source seemed to think it was intentional on Carter's part, and, looking at the replay, it's hard not to think so.

"Everyone has days where a particular meal did funky things in their mouth," the source noted. "A normal person would probably just wash their mouth or brush their teeth, but Vince decided that he needed it to share it with the world." Other commentators think Carter may have pulled an older-brotherish "burp and blow".

Either way, it's gross, and - since specialty breath fresheners are inexpensive and easy to find - it's also unnecessary.

Even though exercise can dry out the mouth and cause halitosis, a simple, mouth-wetting lozenge or specialty oxygenating gum can eradicate bad breath and leave athletes free to compete without stinky distractions.